I share these net worth updates to stay accountable, seek feedback on our strategy, and prove that achieving financial independence in Australia is feasible without relying on extraordinary luck or wealth. The table below tracks our journey from $36K in debt to reaching our goals. 🔥
There’s not a lot to report for February other than it being a shocker for us financially—down across every category.
On the plus side, I’ve got a few podcasts sitting in the editing room that I’m pushing to get out in the next few weeks.
I know the podcast has been a bit quiet since I became a dad, but I always wanted to hit 100 episodes before calling it a day. Got some great chats coming up, plus a few thoughts on FIRE as a parent.
My time is getting pulled in every direction right now, and unfortunately for anyone who enjoys the podcast, AFB content has taken a back seat to a bunch of other priorities (which I’ll chat about in an upcoming episode).
Stay tuned 🙂
Net Worth Update
Ahhh, the joys of the investing rollercoaster 🎢.
Up $61K last month, down $73K this month 😅.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—if you’re still in the accumulation phase, building your snowball, then this kind of dip is a gift. More units per dollar means you’re stacking your portfolio faster.
But if you’re like us and in the consumption phase, a drop like this isn’t exactly what you want to see.
Still, this is the game we play, and the price of volatility is what gets you those better returns over the long run.
Another standout this month was the sharp drop in our cash reserves. I’d love to say it was from the Tesla deposit, but nope—still waiting on an update from them on when we get the car, which is driving me crazy lol.
The decline came from a mix of a costly month on the home front and the business covering some hefty expenses. The double hit meant a significant cash outflow, piling onto the already heavy losses from our assets.
All up, this was our second-largest drop since I started tracking our net worth in 2015 🤯.
.
*Expenses include everything we spend money on to maintain our lifestyle. We do not include paying down our PPoR loan as an expense, only the interest
*Investment income is simply 4% of our FIRE portfolio divided by 12
Just when I thought the passive income line was about to overtake expenses, this blowout happens haha. Maybe next month! 🙂
Shares
The above graph was created by Sharesight
We didn’t buy any shares this month.
Networth
Super excited for the podcasts, especially your thoughts about FIRE as a parent as I’m in that category. Thanks for the continued updates mate, helps keep me motivated.
Agree with the comment above – I’m 36 from Country Vic and your content is so relevant and so inspiring mate.
I was also in London for a few years!
Keeping the updates going makes FIRE seem so much more achievable!
I had put a deposit down on a Tesla, but based on what we know now, forfeited the deposit and instead just took delivery of the BMW IX1 and am very happy with it!
By getting a novated lease through work we saved all the GST, and work didn’t have to pay FBT. The bonus as well BMW are paying the charging through ChargeFox for a year.
Given everything happening in the US, is it too late to cancel the Tesla?
😴
Do you feel you could actually retire on what you have right now, if you had to?
If I had to, yes.
But it would require a shift in our lifestyle. I’d say about 30% of what we buy is a luxury rather than a necessity.
So, if absolutely necessary, we could make it work—but that’s not the lifestyle I want to live.
Imagine admitting you bought a Tesla after the world found out who Elon really is and stands for…
The Tesla thing was discussed last time. I hope everyone can let it be, I find these posts really interesting and he doesn’t have to do this.
True and he does an amazing thing sharing this info. But when circumstances change, one adapts, no?
Completely agree about the Tesla angle – we all need to loosen the grip on the pearls a bit. If I found out the CEO of Hyundai mistreated dogs and abused waitstaff at restaurants, I’d be annoyed but not enough to ditch the i30. (Disclaimer: I do not know who the CEO of Hyundai is – I’m sure they are a great person.)
We got a Tesla early last year. Best EV in terms of comfort. However due to recent events, we have decided that our next car will be a Chinese EV. It’s about the quality of the product and not the brand. We hate Elon Musk as well.
Kudos for being a great dad and husband right now over your work and finances. The only time to have those snuggles is now! Then they will be all grown up and not so cuddly anymore :’)
Now that’s entertaining. Not buying from Elon but then proceeding to buying from Xi Jinping without any hesitation! 🙂
SO EXCITED for the pod to return! Seriously love the eps and hope you can keep it going in some capacity long term. Thanks for sticking with it and working on the new episodes.
Thanks, James!
I really enjoy making the episodes—I just need to find the time. Parenting is tough! Haha.
Best investment you’ll ever make would be to forfeit the Tesla deposit
Or buy a sticker that says “I bought this after I knew Elon was a fascist”
Supporting a CCP owned/subsidised manufacturer because of chronic EDS? Ok. I’m going to replace our 2nd car with a Tesla, at least partially motivated by Elons actions….each to their own hey
Because Europe/ Japan / South Korea doesn’t make EV’s?
Well done. It’s good to report the good with the bad. March is typically a low for the year based on a lot of the yearly cycles so expecting/hoping for better returns for the rest of the year.
As for the Tesla, isn’t it about time people stopped enforcing their beliefs onto others. Fair dinkum, thats where half the problems start from. Each to their own and let it be.
You will find that as your kids get older and with parenting you will also need to let your kids develop their own beliefs, even if they go against what you believe. We are all on our own journey with many twists and turns and telling other people how they should behave so they conform with your own beliefs never brings about true change in the other person.
Expressing a stance against Naziism is enforcing a belief?
If you want to make a stand against Naziism then I dont think this is the forum.
Better to keep to finance and the specifics of the post.
Being content to let it slide is more than half the problem. Returning to finance, it will be interesting to see whether Tesla can remain viable, which may have implications for availability of parts and service in the long term.
Then why does firebug keep bringing it up then? Musk is obviously upsetting a lot of people.
From a financial point of view, you’d have to be nuts to consider a Tesla at the moment with Musk at the helm of the company.
Bruh.
You’re reading my personal blog. Buying a brand-new car is a big financial decision, and I’m going to share it like I do everything else.
If me buying a Tesla bothers you that much, this might not be the blog for you 🤷♂️
Musk gave the Ukrainians Starlink for free and is the only person speaking out against the racist South African government calling for the genocide of the minority Afrikaner/Boer population, which makes him the opposite of fascist.
Impressive Net Worth graph! Nice one.
Hey mate, thanks for the updates. Always love the transparency and encouragement.
I own two Tesla’s and they are fantastic cars. Unmatched in refinement, technology and value to features ratio imo. Compare the Model Y to top spec EV6 GT-Line (which is what you’d need to buy to get equivalent specs) and it’s like a $20k difference. Chalk and cheese.
As for people berating you for buying a car that suits you because of the CEO’s actions – I find that a bit ridiculous. Tesla as a company has done nothing wrong, merely their CEO’s actions unrelated to the company that some people disagree with. Contrast that to people who buy Volkswagen – a company itself that actually committed some fraud and other terrible actions through the Diesel gate scandal. I don’t recall anyone berating Volkswagen buyers online or in real life – and that was possibly more justified since it was the company itself, not just their CEO’s actions!
I think it’s a real honest sign of the modern grasp that social media and hive mind has on people’s ability to use their own common sense when judging others and what they see on tv. You do you mate – and if a product suits you and is the best option on the market, make the right decision for you and your family.
I don’t know what Elon is up to, but I certainly think that Tesla itself (a company he happens to own 12% of) is making damn good products that are making a damn good impact on the market, including pricing pressure and technology innovation on other manufacturers. Sounds like a win in my book.
This 100%
Proud to have my Tesla, couldn’t care less whether the soy latte brigade or the coal brigade are upset this year. People need to grow up out of their social media bubbles. Seems unlikely though.
Didn’t AF say in his past blog post that he supports Musk? Here is the quote “I genuinely think he’s changing the world for the better”. Note this is after Musk did the Nazi salute.
I still stand by that statement.
Let’s take a look at some of the innovations his companies have been involved in…
But sure, let’s disregard all of that just because you don’t agree with his politics
🙄
So glad to read this comment. The derangement syndrome must be real when a FIRE thread can cause such a fuss over a non-event.
We are here to invest, learn and grow and have been lucky to get these rolling updates. Maybe if some of the comments were looking to question and learn I’d understand, but instead they’re just agitated whining.
What a legend buying the car he wants. I’m still driving around a clanger. Plenty auto companies have done worse. Let’s not all be so polarised.
I agree. It seems many commentators here have forgotten some of the fundamentals, i.e.
– as emotion goes up, intellect goes down.
– never ask the sales department if you should buy
– Always ask questions, check sources and evidence.
People need to remember that this is primarily a blog about achieving Financial Independence and Retiring Early.
AF shares these net worth updates to stay accountable, promote discussion around strategy and inspire other mere mortals to do the same.
He doesn’t need to be chided for buying a particular type of car and have this turned into a forum for political point scoring.
As far as I remember, AF wanted to buy an EV to financially benefit from reduced running costs and to also help the environment.
He did some pretty substantial research and decided on a Tesla-there have been over 100,000 sold in Australia and over 7,000,000 sold worldwide since 2008, so he is not alone in buying this product.
Perhaps spend your time calculating the increase in Elon’s net worth over this period of time and leave AF alone.
Is Musk really going that well? He seems pretty tightly linked to Russia and China. And at least a few of his companies look like they’re in difficulties. And it’s a shame about Tesla, because the cars were mostly pretty good.
BTW even though this is a finance site I don’t think everyone values a human by their net worth. But to each their own.
@Concerned Very surprised you couldn’t spot a facetious comment about calculating Elon’s net worth 😂
Thanks for continuing these networth updates AFB. They keep me focused on the end goal – delayed gratification – and you’re a real inspiration that I relate strongly too. If it’s of any solice I don’t think all of this narrow sighted anti Musk shade is at all just.
You made a mistake on the month by month rolling net worth. It goes from Jan 25 to Jan 24 instead of Feb 25. The values are correct just wrote the wrong month and year
Thanks for spotting that mate. It’s been fixed
Long time reader / listener here. Thanks for sharing these updates with real numbers, I find it so motivating.
Looking forward to the new pods!
You know who I’d love to hear interviewed again is Pat the shuffler. Be good to hear what he’s up to as I believe he was going to ramp down to part time work.
Anyway, thought I’d better say thanks given all this Elon talk might have you questioning whether the updates are worth the hassle!
Cheers
Thanks Adrian!
I’d love to catch up with Pat again. I might be heading to NSW soon so let me see what I can cook up.
Nice work AFB
For those interested, check out EV Clinic. In this article they go through the costs involved with repairing, reliability, etc.
They compare combustion engines, hybrids, and full electric. Results are staggering. Tesla is the best, avoid hybrids, read more…
https://evclinic.eu/2025/01/19/ultimate-ev-ice-and-hybrid-comparison/
Hi all,
Thanks AFB, I’m just starting my journey on FIRE and came across this tool that works out my FIRE number plus seems like it has some other stuff being developed to support FIRE stuff. not sure how good it is – https://aufit.mvjustice.com/fireNumber.html. I thought I would share it as it helped me understand what I need to retire on…and I now have a target number.
I think it might be my first time commenting here despite frequenting here for the last several years. I am only few years younger and I am of a similar background (e.g. married with a kid, running my own firm). And of course, I am also on my journey to FIRE.
So it’s a bit late but thank you so much for your work on this blog and I hope you can keep us all updated on your FIRE journey. I must say that coming here once a month or so definitely helps me more motivated to keep going on this journey. Knowing that there is someone pursuing a similar goal gives me a sense of community and realisation that I am not alone.
Ignore the people who underrate your work or try to associate the work that you do with other irrelevant noise but instead focus on people that cheer you on.
Thank you NL 🙏
Hi AFB, have you invest ETF to your daughter? Which ETF will you buy for her? I have a 16 years old daughter. I am thinking to buy some ETF for her recently. She earns $3000 from her work. I suggest her to invest it to ETF.
Not yet.
Still tossing it up. Part of me wants to throw a lump sum in now and let it grow into a decent house deposit down the track. But the other part of me thinks she should learn how to save and invest for herself.
We want to give her every chance to thrive, but handing over money on a silver platter feels off. We’ll probably invest something for her, but there’s real value in having to grind for it. That struggle builds confidence — and I don’t want to rob her of that.